The British Formula 4 season finale takes place this weekend at Brands Hatch, where titles will be decided, including the winner of the rookie standings. Martin Molnár starts the weekend in P1 among the rookies, with the goal of not only securing the championship but also finishing the season with an overall podium.
The final round of the 2024 British F4 Championship will be held at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit, which is one of British motorsport’s legendary venues. The young talents have already visited the track this year, but this time they will race on the same Grand Prix track that hosted 12 British Grands Prix and two European Grands Prix between 1964 and 1986.
“Brands Hatch carries a lot of heritage. Big names have raced here, even in the junior categories. You can feel the motorsport passion and history as soon as you arrive. I particularly enjoy coming here, maybe even more than other tracks, because I know how tough it is to race and perform well here. If you’re fast at Brands Hatch, people recognize you’re genuinely good; it’s not just a lucky weekend. The mindset here is different for everyone, I’d compare it a bit to the Nordschleife—there’s no room for error. It’s really hard to be fast, and if you don’t take risks, you’ll be slow and won’t stand a chance” explained Tamás Pál Kiss, MOTAM’s operations manager and Martin’s coach.
“The GP layout is probably the toughest track on the calendar” added Martin Molnár. “It has several corners where you have to be brave, and the run-off areas are tiny, so mistakes are costly. I haven’t driven the GP layout in the rain yet, but if it rains, it’ll be even easier to lose control of the car. We’ll need to be very careful in such conditions.”
Ahead of the weekend, the drivers participated in a one-day test session, which went well for Molnár, the rookie standings leader, though it was held on the shorter Indy layout, making it difficult to draw conclusions for the upcoming race weekend.
“The test day was mixed. We started in the rain in the morning and finished in the rain in the afternoon. When the track dried, we were fast—I was in P1 for a long time before getting overtaken in the final two minutes. But since we only ran on the Indy layout, we didn’t learn much about setups, tire degradation, or other details. However, it was good to get back into the rhythm and practice the first sector, which is the only part shared between the two layouts” said Molnár, who is part of the Hungarian Motorsport Academy supported by the HUMDA Agency.
“I’ve driven the GP layout in two tests before, but there were so many offs that completing 20 clean laps would have been a lot. That shows how easy it is to make costly mistakes here. I prefer the Indy layout a bit more, but they say once you get the hang of the GP circuit, you’ll enjoy it more because it’s really exciting," admitted the 16- year-old driver.
Tamás Kiss Pál noted that drivers in their second year of the championship have a distinct advantage on this track due to the experience required to be fast.
“You need a certain feel for the car, experience, and courage that you can’t expect from a rookie. There are spots with only two meters of run-off, and beyond the white line, there’s grass. Especially in the autumn, when the curbs are damp even if the track is dry, taking a blind corner at 180-190 km/h on the limit is very difficult with so few kilometers of practice. A rookie simply doesn’t have enough time on track to learn these instinctively, but by the second year, these challenges become more manageable.” explained Tamás Pál Kiss. “Martin still needs to push closer to the limit in some areas, but he’s getting there, and it’s good to see that he doesn’t tighten up when things don’tgo as planned.”
No Pressure for Results
Martin heads into the final four races of the season with a 2.5-point lead in the rookie standings—there are four races at Brands Hatch instead of three, as they’re making up for a race canceled due to rain at Silverstone. His closest rival is Yuanpu Cui, but despite the desire to win the title, neither Martin nor the team are under pressure, and they won’t be counting points during the races.
“Whatever happens over these two days, it’s already been a great season, and the final weekend won’t change that. Of course, I’d love to win the rookie title, but there’s no pressure. I’m approaching this weekend like any other—my main goal is to get the most out of myself and the car and improve from the tests. If that happens, and luck is on our side, the results will follow-“Martin said.
“Martin has set the bar high with four overall podium finishes this season, and that creates an expectation that’s almost unrealistic. We need to keep things in perspective. It’s a mistake to think those results will come easily from now on” added Pál Kiss.
“We’re trying not to talk about the championship too much, but it’s on everyone’s mind. Martin has made up a huge gap this season and regained the lead at the last round, so naturally, it would be disappointing to lose the title at the final race. However, it’s not a make-or-break goal for his career. He’s already well-regarded and on an upward trajectory. We aim to carry the momentum from Silverstone into this weekend, finish as high as possible in the top ten, and hopefully, get on the podium. As a team, we’ve agreed to focus on delivering our best performance, and that should be enough to meet our goals. But if it’s not, we can still say we gave it our all.”
The schedule for the last round of the FIA British Championship is as follows ( GMT+1):
Friday
09.00 – 09.45: Free practice 1
13.15 – 14.00: Free practice 2
Saturday
10.25 – 10.45: Qualifying
13.50 – 14.10: Race 1
17.25 – 17.45: Race 2
Sunday
10.40 – 11.00: Race 3
15.25 – 15.45: Race 4